


"Subverted Expectations"

by kellym1410



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Criticism, Essay, F/M, Trope Subversion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 16:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellym1410/pseuds/kellym1410
Summary: Rambling essay capturing my thoughts before the season 8 finale.





	"Subverted Expectations"

As I write these down these jumbled recollections on the night before the final episode of the final season of HBO’s  _ Game of Thrones,  _ I cannot help but recollect the month span when I read  _ Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring  _ for my eighth grade English Language and Literature class. The first book, its two sequels, and the trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson left my fourteen year old mind spinning like nothing else that preceded them. At the time, I did know what it was, this common thread that bound me to Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, the Elder Scrolls. As years passed, the works changed but the theme and characteristics remained the same. I found the answer to this nagging question in the letters of Tolkien himself:  _ “It remains an unfailing delight to me to find my own belief justified: that the “fairy-story” is really an adult genre, and one for which a starving audience exists.” _

 

Reading  _ Fellowship  _ took a much-needed sledgehammer to how my young mind perceived fiction on both a narrative and thematic level. These fantastical characters acting out impossible scenarios, captured in florid prose, encapsulating a ridiculously detailed universe made up fifty percent of the equation. The other half was how human the characters were in the midst of these “fairy stories.” Their motivations and their personalities seemed real in a way that nothing else had before them. I suspect that this is the same reason that so many are drawn to Star Wars and Marvel movies today, during such uncertain and intimately terrifying times. The environments provide a needed escape, yet the ways the characters intersect with our own lives remind us that we are not alone, and that there is, stunningly, always hope.

 

For me experiencing this with  _ Fellowship,  _ there was something missing. Perhaps it has something to do with the dearth of female characters with agency with whom I am always so eager to form parasocial bonds. Maybe it was (aside from poor Boromir), the lack of true tragedy faced by the protagonists. That hole might be filled when I finally get around to reading  _ The Silmarillion.  _ At the end of the day, I don’t what, but something is missing.

 

Enter  _ Game of Thrones. _

 

I was sixteen and sitting in the basement of my highschool with my back to the door of the utilities closet. The precise placement was important as I was caching the private wifi from the houses next door so that I could find the perfect Putlocker to binge  _ Game of Thrones,  _ seasons one through four.

 

It was, in three words, everything I wanted.

 

The fantasy elements mentioned above were present and accounted for, but it had a weight to it. The decisions were permanent and life-threatening. Violence and a general sense of brutality shocked and shook me as I sat through episode after episode. We all have our personal favorite moment, but for me, it was the death of the Viper at the hands of the Mountain. The sense of horror, disgust, and  _ Oh-God-I-should-have-seen-this-coming  _ followed me for days, to the point where my mother asked me if everything was alright for me at school.

 

As a fan, all the way up to season seven, I found myself defending  _ GOT  _ on almost every front. I genuinely loved the slow transition from political grit to magical spectacle. Elements like hyperspeed-travelling Varys didn’t bother me because he made thematic sense to be in certain scenes. I am one of the handful of people who liked the writing and direction of season seven, and I know I am in the distinct minority of feminists who does not have a particular problem with most of the the sexual violence depicted on screen. I loved this show since that afternoon in my high school's basement.

 

Six years end tomorrow, and I feel nothing.

 

I love performing “autopsies” on films and TV shows that have failed in some way or another, but I will never rewatch  _ Game of Thrones  _ because of how futile everything turned out to be. Jon’s time at and beyond the Wall with the wildlings and White Walkers? Pointless. Dany choosing to free the slaves in Essos? Doesn’t matter. Jaime learning that Cersei ultimately has left him as a shell of his former self and journeying towards a true purpose? Screw it. Cersei’s desire for family and loyalty leaving her completely alone? Never explored. The Children of the Forest, the Night King, the Lord of Light, the Iron Bank, Dorne, the House of Black and White, they all collapse into nothing.

 

I could go on. The qualities of the writing and dropping of plot threads shocks me in the worst way possible. I would compare it to bad fanfiction, but at least in those you see passion and more often than not a general reverence for the source material. Here, behind shamefully expensive production value and actors working their asses off trying to pull this season out of a nosedive, there is nothing but two writers uniquely unsuited for the material.

 

Most of my disappointment stems from Daenerys and her seemingly inevitable death tomorrow. I am the stereotypical Dany-stan. As a character, she inspired me in a way that Hermione and other cultural icons of the 2000s never could. Her kindness, sense of justice, her rage always made me so happy. I looked forward to seeing how she would try, fail, and rise again. Tomorrow, the woman who started out as a survivor of abuse alone in the world will be put down like a rabid cur because family blood guides us all. There is no hope, there is no possibility for change, there is only darkness

 

There are some saying that the Mad Queen storyline could have been brilliant if handled earlier. I am not sure that I agree with that. Having every woman in a position of political authority either dying or turning into a twisted reflection of their former self seems like something that I wouldn’t want to see under any circumstances, even if it did make narrative sense. Additionally there are those that are going to mock the sentiment behind this essay, arguing that a “Disney ending” does not belong in GOT. I agree with that. I never wanted a “Disney ending.” I just wanted a coherent one.

 

Realistically, they’re not going to remake season eight, and I probably won’t sign a petition demanding that Dingbat&Douchenozzle get booted from Star Wars or whatnot. There’s nothing I can do stop that. However, those of you that stumble upon this essay who are young and creative, I ask that you evaluate what the phrase “subverting expectations” means to you. In only a few years time, my generation will be at the helm of properties like GOT. Our culture has changed so much, and often not for the better, yet the potential loss of narrative conventions symbolized by season eight scares me. I’m going to sound like a bad member of the postmodern project, but I believe that reinjecting our stories with meaning, both for the characters and our audiences can give us the light we need to survive, and maybe even succeed.

__


End file.
